Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

Last night I parachuted back into Panau to cause some more mayhem. I’m over 18 hours into Just Cause 2, and it took me a while to fully understand how the developers solved a crucial problem with sandbox games with the stunt mode. Simply put, pushing circle by any vehicle puts Rico on top of it, but not driving (or flying) it. Grappling a vehicle reels him in and automatically puts him in stunt mode, and just about everything that drives, flies, or floats is stunt-compatible.

Grapple a car and he’ll reel in and land on top of it in stunt position. Grapple a plane and he stands boldly atop the fuselage with what must be highly magnetic shoes in stunt position. Grapple a helicopter and he hangs underneath in stunt position. A barge chugging or sailboat sliding along in the water? Grapple, zip, stunt position! It solves the “if only I could hang on” problem almost every sandbox game has with vehicles. Rico can hang on to anything, he is a super-agent after all, and this one circle button press does it easily.

So why is it called “stunt” instead of “board” or “grab on”? Because it’s reversible and available at any time. While triangle hijacks a vehicle when you’re in stunt mode, circle reverses that, letting Rico jump out right away to stunt position from the cockpit. From there you have options based on what you’re in.

If you’re on a vehicle with a human-controlled turret, you push the stick back and he jumps into the turret automatically. From there pushing circle puts you back in stunt mode. From stunt mode you can also grapple something else, leap off or push triangle to slip right back behind the controls to keep on flying, driving, or steering the ship. It takes a little getting used to, but it’s completely worth it.

What did you play this weekend?